Youths enter sheep and goat costume contest at fair

Rebecca Paxson wears a Storm Trooper costume in a sheep and goat costume parade Sunday at the Ventura County Fair.

Special to The Star

After more than a week of brushing, primping, cleaning, feeding and otherwise caring for their animals to receive ribbons, the young goat and sheep owners of Ventura County had a chance to lighten up a little at a goat and sheep costume contest and parade Sunday, the last day of the Ventura County Fair.

"We do it as a fun event for kids. They really enjoy it, and they've been working hard. It's time to relax and have fun," said Cindy Stines, of Fillmore, who ran the contest with Sandy Gurolla, of Fillmore. The Bardsdale 4-H Club sponsored the event.

The contest allows late entries and gets judges from among young people in the audience. Gurolla, who has been co-organizer with Stines for two years, said they made changes this year, consolidating the event into one ring rather than two to avoid confusion.

About 26 young people competed with a lamb or goat they had brought for judging. While the youths had fun in their costumes, many of the four-legged entrants were less than thrilled with the shirts, hats and other clothes their owners tried to impose on them.

Derek Drews, 11, of Camarillo, who belongs to the Santa Rosa Valley 4-H, had to settle for laying a hockey jersey across his lamb Bahbahloo's back.

"She isn't being cooperative," he said, adding that this is his first year competing in the fair. "My dad does tax returns for a lady, and she told my dad about raising lambs, and my dad wanted me to do it," Derek said.

Yeatman, 14, who lives just outside Thousand Oaks, had dressed his lamb McFlurry in a shark costume he and his mother sewed. Yeatman wore board shorts and carried a handmade surfboard with a big bite taken out.

"I've been going to the beach a lot lately, so that's where I got the idea," he said.

As the fair drew to an end, Steven Smith, of Boulder, Colo., said he was glad to have made it in time.

"We come here from Colorado and rent a beach house just so we can come to the fair," Smith said. "It's big, it's on the beach, and the weather's perfect."

His wife, Christina Smith, said she was eager to enjoy her vacation along with children Jessica Smith, 2, and Anthony Smith, 5.

In the Agriculture and Natural Resources building, Nona Hummel, of Simi Valley, was spinning thread on a modern spinning wheel.

"I love the Ventura County Fair. I've been here every day. It's in transition, but it's still a community affair," she said.

A member of the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild, Hummel said she enjoys demonstrating the art of creating the basic threads that make up all clothing.

"We show people how everything has always been made," she said.

In the Gem and Minerals building, Bonnie Petrovich, of Fillmore, said the fair went well this year. She was part of the Family History Centers of Ventura County, which consist of Camarillo, Fillmore, Newbury Park, Ojai, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Ventura; the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society; and the Ventura County Genealogical Society, which offered free family trees.